LETTERS, September 19, 2009

Tucson, Arizona, became the latest city to endorse passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Tucson's Republican Mayor, and the all Democratic city council voted unanimously to pass a resolution extolling the proposed legislation which will make organizing unions fairer and simpler for U.S. workers. The resolution urges Arizona's congressional delegation to support the Bill. The action was taken at the initiative of the Tucson Chapters of the United Steelworkers Association and Jobs with Justice.

Joe Bernick

Via e-mail

Fake photo

It was really sad to hear about the "massive" rally in D.C. over the weekend against Obama, health care, and what the right wing calls "reckless spending."

I knew that something was wrong and I was right. The photo that many right wing forces were showing in their effort to portray an image of a massive protest against Obama, anti health care rally is a fake! The Vote Blog at the Christian Science Monitor points out that the photo is actually 12 years old! Absent from "Their Picture" is the National Museum of the American Indian. The museum was built in 1997, or twelve years ago!

Also not reported by major media: throughout the crowd some people were displaying Confederate Flags. The "tax payer protest" was obviously nothing other than a racist anti Obama rally.

Ironically, the anti Obama protesters were not alone on the on the mall. Another rally was also being held, the 24th annual Black Family Reunion. That rally was ignored by the major news media.

Yes we can, yes we will,

Ken BeSaw

New York City

Excellent piece in The Lutheran regarding CPUSA

I was so very pleased to read the piece that appeared in The Lutheran entitled "Communist, not always atheist" (p. 15)

September 2009, www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=8393. The piece was well written and made me very happy to see us break down such barriers. I am assuming that it is based on the article that

Tim Wheeler wrote entitled "New Religious Commission

Begins Work," in the People's Weekly World:

www.pww.org/index.php

/article/articleview/16012/

To all at the paper: Great job, everyone!

I just submitted this reply to the piece, showing my support for such articles:

I served on the Religious Commission of the CPUSA back in 2004-2005 with its first meeting in Des Moines Iowa and with a follow-up meeting at the Quadrennial Convention of the Communist Party USA in Chicago. I was blessed and fortunate to meet and work with other members of the Communist Party who come from a wide variety of faith backgrounds. All of whom shared a common vision of social justice, equality for all people, and for seeking ways to alleviate suffering among the poor. I am a member of the ELCA and am pleased to see this piece appear in The Lutheran.

Peace,

Michael Adam Reale

Via e-mail

Two who died too soon

I was sad to read that Crystal Lee Sutton, the real-life "Norma Rae," died at age 68 of cancer. The news report said she went two whole months without possible life-saving medications because her insurance wouldn't cover it at first. She called it another example of abusing the working poor.

The same day, I also received sad news that my brother's long-time, very dear friend passed away. He got a call from her employer that she hadn't come in to work and he found her on the sofa. Apparently she died in her sleep.

She was a tiny tough woman who led a hard life waiting tables and running a bar. She had been a drinker and smoker but gave that up a few years back when she had a small stroke. Like a lot of people with little money she was a generous soul - she often brought little gifts for everyone to family gatherings.

She had no health insurance, no health care at all except what she could afford to pay for. She was 54.

Health care for all can't wait! And we need to slam the insurance companies hard and force them to stop putting profits ahead of people's health.

Barbara Carpenter

Chicago

Sept. 12 DC March

Why is it that the 9/12 DC marchers said it had nothing to do with President Obama being Black? No one said anything about race, yet, for some reason. they feelt they had to explain themselves to others. Now after viewing many YouTube videos from the march itself, I have a question. Where is the minority representation that the marchers say was attended by people of all color?

Here's a simple math fact ... Reagan tax cuts resulted in a deficit, Clinton tax increases resulted in a surplus and George W's tax cuts resulted in a record-setting $1.3 trillion deficit. Republican government is to blame for this mess not President Obama himself. Now, 9/12 DC marchers, don't you think you're about a year too late protesting run-away big-government spending?